Iphone 3GS not recognised by my new Toshiba Netbook

Hi
I'm desperate for advice. Please be gentle this is my first post. I have an Iphone 3GS which I have previously connected to my Asus laptop using Itunes and windows. My partner changed my laptop operating system to linux which wasn't compatible with Itunes. I could not download the IOS4? software update, so for this and for a range of other reasons I bought a Netbook, a Toshiba NB 550D .
Problem is my Iphone isn't recognised by this Netbook, not even to charge. It makes a sound like it knows the cord has been connected and then nothing. It doesn't look for drivers.
The tech dept from the Netbook retailer did a range of Windows updates, reinstalled Itunes and concluded it was a problem with my phone. They advised I use my partner's Itunes to update the software on my Iphone, which we did.
It still was not recognised by the netbook. The netbook recognises by Ipod nano, the tech's Iphone4, my partners HTC phone.
My 3GS is recognised by my laptop, my partners laptop, the Apple stores Macbook.
The tech at the Genius store could not offer me a lot of advice other than buy an Iphone 4 and your phone just doesn't like this netbook. A driver must be corrupted somewhere??
Anyone experienced this conflict? Any advice?
Cheers GGkin

I've seen this issue twice. We went through all the apple kb articles and troubleshooting with both of them. One was an iPhone and one was a Classic. The issue was resolved on both by going to the Apple store and having them do a factory restore.

I cannot be held responsible for the things that come out of my mouth.
In the Windows world, most everything folks don't understand is called a virus.

My experiences are almost identical to ggkin's issue. Itunes does not show the device at all and Windows 7 only picks it up as a camera. All is as it should be when iphone is attached to other PC's in the house. It looks like my only option is to go to an Apple store as suggested, but it does not please me and does not convince me that Apple products are for me!

I am not an apple fan and this iphone was passed on to me by my daughter, she has upgraded, in an effort to show me how good Apple stuff is. It has done exactly the opposite as the whole process of transfering ownership to me and getting it working on a new network has been a nightmare. I thought that I had it cracked after a month of effort but NO! - I now have this new problem. I will solve it, as I don't give up easily, but I would not consider purchasing an Apple product based on the experiences of the last month.